Electric switch



y 1929- c. s. cnoss El AL 1.720.511

ELECTRIC SWITCH Filed May 19, 1925 a H 2a 43 4 INVENTORS 6. 5. Cross A? $m4'f/7 ATTORNEY Patented July 9, 19225.

UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES S. CROSS, OF BROOKLYN, AND CHARLES A. SMITH, OF JAMAICA, NEW YORK,

ASSIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESN E ASSIGNMENTS, TO CIRCLE F MFG. CO., 0F TREN- TON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

Application filed May 19,

Our invention relates to improvements in electric switches and is particularly adapted for use in sockets for incandescent lamps, having particular reference to the class of switches which are opened and closed by forward or rotary movements of a controlling member which may be operated by a pull chain or push device, the reverse operation of the chain or push device being controlled by a sprmg.

()ur invention. also comprises novel. details of improvement that will be more fully hereinafter set forth and then pointed out in the claims.

.iteference is to be h ad to the accompanying drawings :lorming a part hereof, wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of the main body or switch;

Fig. 2 is an under side view of Fig. 1.;

.llig. 8 is a partly broken side view looking from the right hand side of Fig. 2;

Fig. 3 is a detail;

Figs. 4t and are inside face views of the respcctive sections of the switch body;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the plane of line 6, 6, of Fig. 4 showing the assembly of ti ie switch devices;

F 7 illustrates, in perspective, detached parts of our switch;

Fig. 8 is a perspective detail of a locking member for the sections of the switch body;

Fig. 9 .is an enlarged detail perspective of the operating member for the movable contacts of the switch; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective of a threaded shell or sleeve of the lamp socket.

Sin'iilar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views. 1

The main body of the switch illustrated comprises two complemental sections 1, 2, shown generally cylindrical in. form when placed together, adapted to be received. within an ordinary or well known shell A of an electric socket havingany suitable interior insulation adapted to be connected to an electric fixture in a known way. The sections 1, have corresponding flat meeting faces 1, 2. In the form illustrated the sections 1, 2 are retained together by means of a yoke-like re- 1925. Serial No. 31,282.

taining member 3 at one end and a threaded conductor shell. or sleeve 4 at the opposite end, to which the base of an incandescent electric lamp may be screwed in a usual Way. The sections 1, 2 at the corresponding ends have transverse grooves or grooved portions 5, 6, respectively, which align with each other to receive the member 3 transversely across the end of the sections. The outer portions of said grooves are enlarged at 5, 6", providing shoulders at 7 on the respective sections remote from the faces 1., 2 to receive the laterally and inwardly extending ends 3 of member 8, which member may have sufficient flexibility to permit said ends to slide and spring against the corresponding shoulders '4" when the member is being pushed along the sections to retain the sections 1, 2 together in juxtaposition with their faces 1 ,2 in contact. The member 3 may be removed by prying the same outwardly with a suitable tool. On the ends ofthe sections 1, 2, opposite the recesses 5, 6, are formed ribs 8 adjacent to the flat end faces of the body sections, the outer longitudinal edges of each of said ribs being inclined along parallel lines at a suit able angle, such as substantially at an angle also, as indicated at 9, 9, (Fig. 3). The inner edges of the ribs are inclined at 10 in a diverging manner. The threaded shell or sleeve 4 at one end is provided with a Wall 4 having a circumferentially continuous or unbroken section surrounding a central rectangular opening 1 Said opening is of a length substantially equivalent to the length of the ribs 8 and is adapted to receive said ribs when the two sections 1, 2 of the body are tilted or arranged in relatively angular positi0ns, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and then moved toward each other to engage their flat surfaces. The outer edges of sections 1, 2 are inclined away from the ribs, as at 1, 2, to facilitate assembling of the parts when the sections are tilted to enter the ribs in opening 4t of shell 4.

In such movement of the body sections the ribs 8 enter the opening 4 and the outer 1nclined edges 9 of the ribs respectively inter lock with the opposing edges of the opening 4 in the sleeve. In this manner there is obtained a firm, rigid connection between the shell or sleeve and the two sections of the switch body without the use of attachment screws or other similar fastening elements, and after the parts have been so connected the retaining member 3 is applied in the position indicated in Fig. 3 to retain the members 1, 2-together. The construction of the ribs 8 with-theirv edges 9 and the shell or sleeve 4 having the opening 4 and the edges of the wall around the same are set forth in the application of Charles S. Cross for electric switches, filed December 18, 1924, Serial No. 756,639, and our present invention has reference to further improvements in the con struction" of the class of switches'set forth in said application. y

he section 1 of the bodyhas an inner re cess 11, and the section 2 of the body has an inner recess '12, which recesses oppose when I lease wall of recess 11 of section 1 has moulded thereon, in" concentric relation to a central boss 13 surrounding the shaft-receiving bore 14, a plurality'of beveled or inclined surfaces, indicated at 15, four of such surfaces being utilized at 90 apart. Such surfaces incline inrth'e same circumferential direction from one of their ends, and their other ends each terminate respectively in an abrupt angular shoulder at 16, each of which shoulders hes adjacent to the'deeper inner end of an adj acent inclined surface.

Two oppositely related inclined surfaces 15 are covered by contact plates 17, 18, respectively of substantially similar shape, through which the circuit is adapted to be closed, as hereinafter explained." 'From the contact 17 extends a contact 19 passing through a groove 20 in section 1', (Fig. 4), and terminating at its end 19 in a central position at the adjacent end of the body to be engaged by a corresponding con tact of an electric lampbase when the latter is screwed'into shell or sleeve 4. The section 1 has a hole opening through opposite faces and'the contacts 17, 18 have holes registering therewith whereby said contacts are i secured firmly to the body section 1 by rivet 21, located in said hole, (Fig. 6). The contact 18 is secured'by rivet 22 to a contact or terminal 23 located in a recess 24 in the exterior surface of section 1, which contact is shown provided witha screw 25 for connection with a line wire.

The section 1 has a hole opening through-opposite faces and the contacts 18 and 23 have holes registering therewith, the rivet passing through the holes, whereby said contacts are secured firm- 1y to section 1. Insulation-22 covers rivet 22.

At 26 is a terminal or contact shown located in a recess 27 int-he exterior surface of body .to become loosened.

section 2 and secured by a rivet 28, which contact is provided with a screw 29 for connection with a line wire. The section 2 has a hole extending through opposite faces and contact 26 has a hole registering therewith, the rivet passing through the holes, whereby said contact scoured firmly to the section. By having holes opening through the faces of the sections the rivets can be upset or swaged to secure the respective contacts, facilitating the assembly and reducing cost, as compared to screws that permit contacts The inner end 26" of contact or terminal 26 extends along the end face of section 2, preferably in a recess 2 therein, (Fig. 5), in position to engage the shell or sleeve 4 when the latter is connect cd to the ribs 8, as indicated in Fig. 3, for completing the corresponding circuit of the last named, wire to shell 4.

The circuit of the switch or socket. is made and broken at the contacts 17, 18 by means of diametrically opposed contacts 30. 31 which are rot ative around a shaft 32 that is retained at bore 14 of section 1, (Fig. (3). The contacts 30, 31 may be struck from a metal plate 33 secured to an insulating dish 3!- guided by and rotative around shaft 32, (Figs 6 and 7). The plate may be provided with one or more prongs on the side opposite the contacts 30, 31, pushed into the insulating disk 34 for retaining said parts together. By preference an insulating washer or extension 35 is connected to disk 34 and may be retainedbetween said disk and the plate 33 by means of said prongs, (Fig. (i). The washer or extension 35 extends su'll icient- 1y outwardly to overlie the contacts 17, 18, 30 and 31 so as to prevent a pull chain, (hereinafter referred to), from coming in engagementwith said contacts. To rotate the contacts 30 and 31, (step by step), the disk 34- is provided with ratchet-like teeth 36 preferably equi-distantly spaced apart, as at which teeth may be struck from a disk 37 having prongs 38 on the side opposite the teeth. 36 driven into the insulating disk 34-, whereby said teeth are retained on the side of said disk away from the contacts 30 and 31. A rotative disk or plate 39 is journaled upon shaft 32, operative against plate 37, and the disk or plate 39 is provided with spaced openings 39 adapted to receive the teeth 36, (Fig. 7), the openings 39 corresponding in location and number to the teeth 36 so that adjacent edges of said openings will engage said teeth for rotating the disk 34 and the contents 30, 31. The disk or plate 39 is provided with prongs 40 adapted to be engaged by the projecting end portion 41" of a coil spring 41 locatcd upon shaft 32 for operating disk or plate 39 against the pull. of chain 42. At 43 is a disk secured upon the end of shaft 32, which disk may be provided with one or more holes or notches 44 to receive ill) llll

Cir

iii

the end 41 of spring 41. The disk 43 is shown provided with an angular opening receiving the reduced angular end 32 of shaft 32, which end. may be swaged or spread over said disk to retain the latter on the shaft, the angular end of: the shaft and the opening 45 keeping the disk from rotating on the shaft, whereby the tension of spring 41 may be ap plied. to plate 39 tln'ough the medium'ot the projecting end 41 of the spring and one ot the projections 40 of said disk or plate. The shaft 32 is retained from rotating under the torsional influence of spring 41 by means of the flattened or angular end or cross key of the shaft at 32" located. in a corresponding flattened or angular outer socket or slot per tion 14 of bore 14 as a seat in section 1, (Fig. 2). The end 32 of shaft 32 is swaged laterally orenlarged in such a way that it will not pull longitudinally inwardly through the in nor central portion of bore 14 by the eXpansion of spring 41, and thus retained in body section 1, but the shaft may be pushed out wardly therethrough for rotating in the here.

When the parts are assembled (asshown in Fig. 6) spring 41 will be under endwise compression between plate 39 and disk 43 serving to keep said plate in (.'O() Jt.l'tthlV6 re lation with the ratchet teeth 36 and to retain the contacts 30, 31 pressed in. the direction oi the contacts 17, 18 for closing circuit thereat, and such tendency of said spring serves also to retain shaft 32 with its end 32 seated in. the seat 14 The outere-nd of shaft 32 is shown slit or slotted at 32 adapted to receive a tool, such as a screw driver, that may be entered through an opening 2" in the side of body section 2, whereby said screw driver may be applied against the adjacent end of shaft 32 to enable theshatt to be pushed longitudinally to disengage its enlarged head .32" from the seat 14 to enable the shalit to be rotated to vary the tension or torsional action of spring 41 with relation to plate39, and when the shaft is role: sed. from the tool the spring 41 will push the shaft again into its operative position in seat 14 and so retain it in body section 1. The construction described provi des a convenient and etlicient means for varying the tension of spring 41 while all the parts of the body are assembled arnlseeured together. Shaft 32 guided wholly in bore 14-.01 section 1, and the movable switch parts and spring 41 with disk 48 are maintained in relation by said shaft, so that all of said parts are carried by body section 1. Hence, when body section 2 is detached from section 1 the switch parts all remain associated with section 1 and do not separate when the body sections 1 and 2 are disconnected. Since the angular end 32" of shaft 32 may be pushed out of the angular outer portion 14 of bore- .14 the tension oi the spring 41 maybe adjusted when the body sections 1 and 2 are separated.

The plate 39 provided with a lateral projection 39" whose edge 39 will engage the corner or edge 2 of section 2 when the chain is pulled. The inner end of chain 42 is detachably connected to plate 39, an object being to provide means to permit the chain to be attached and. detached without injury to the chain or the part retaining it. We pro- 'vide the plate 39 with a hook-like projection 46 of such dimensions as to receive a link 42 between two adjacent balls or larger links of the chain, which balls are located on opposite sides of the projection 46, (Fig. 7) and at 47 is a stop in the path ot the link 42 and opposing the outer end of projection 46 and suitably spaced therefrom tor the passage. of said link. The stop 4'? may be formed by stamping out the metal of projection 46, preferably in euri-"edike "form, in the nature of a projection, as indicated. in Fig. 9. l/Vhen the chain is to be applied. its appropriate link 42 is placed. against the stop 4? and pushed into the space adjacent to the hook-like projection 4.6 and said stop, said parts serving to retain the chain with the balls fitted on opposite sides thereoil. To remove the chain. it is merely necessary to pull the balls lat-erally, whereby the link 42 will. be drawn from between projection 46 and stop 47. the construction described enables the chain to be connected to and disconnected from the plate 39 without danger of injury to the parts. ll hen. the parts are assembled the chain will engage the disk 34 and will rest upon the projecting flange 35, in the manner indicated in Fig. (3, and the projection 39" will be over the inner part 015 the chain, preventing the chain. from rising during recoil. In the normal position of plate 39 the ball 42' will engage opposing stop shoulders 1, 2 of sections .1, 2, under the tension 01? spring 41, (Figsr4 and In order to guide. the chain freely we provide a sleeve 48 which may be retained between the body sections 1, 2 by means of opposing recesses 45.), 50 in said sections respectively, within the outer ilortions oi. which the inner part oi sleeve 48 is located so that the chain. may slide through the channel so formed and through the sleeve. The sleeve 48 is shown provided with a flange 48'" at its inner end engaging correspending annular oilsets 49 and 5O oi. the recesses 49, 50. The sleeve may be loosely retained in the recesses so that the sleeve may rotate and swivel treely in various directions in accordancewith the direction in which the chain may be pulled and according to the position in which the switch may be installed.

When the parts are assembled. with a lamp screwed into the shell or sleeve 4 and the switch closed the circuit will be from a. line wire and contact 23, to contacts 18 and 31. through plate 33, contacts 36, .17, central contact .19, and through the lamp filament to its threaded base, thence through shell. or

sleeve 1 and contact 26 to the other line wire. When the chain is pulled the contacts 30, 31 will be'rotated to break circuit with contacts 17 and 18 which contacts 30, 31 will drop into the spaces 15 betweenthe contacts 17, 18. Each time the chain is pulled and released the plate 39 will advance the contacts 30, 31 a quarter turn and when the chain is released thespring 41 will rotate the plate 39 reversely which will slip past the ratchets 36 ready for another forward operation, the engagement of contacts 30, 31 with corresponding stops 16 preventingreturn of said contacts.

Our improved'electric switch is of advantage in various ways in that the sections 1,

2 of the body may be readily separated in caseof necessity; the various parts of the switch mechanism may be readily assembled; the contacts may make sudden engagement and disengagement to avoid arcing; the chain may be readily attached to and detached from the plate 39 without injury to any of the parts and Without danger that the chain will become loosened in use; the switch is not liableto get out of order, and may be made at relatively low' cost. 7

Changes may be made in the details of construction set forth, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having now described our inventiol'i what we claim is:

1. An electric switch comprising complementary insulating body sections, a current conducting sleeve, said sections and sleeve having means for interlocking them together, a retaining member for said sections adapted to extend along outer portions of the sections and having laterally extending ends, and spaced shoulders on said sections adapted to slidably and detachably receive said laterally extending ends of said member.

2. An electric switch comprising complementaryinsulating body sections having inner opposing faces, a current conducting sleeve, said sections and sleeve having means for interlocking them together, a retaining member for said sections adapted to extend along outer portions of the sections and havinglaterally extending ends, said sections having grooved portions in their exteriors adapted to receive said member, the grooved portions being provided with shoulders remote from said faces to detachably engage the lateral ends of said member.

3. An electric switch comprising complementary insulating body portions having inner opposing faces, a current conducting sleeve, said sections and sleeve having means for interlocking them together, a retaining member for said sections adapted to extend along outer portions of the sections and having laterally extending flexible ends, said sections having grooved portions in their exteriors adapted to receive said member, the

grooved portions being provided with shoulders remote from said faces to detachably engage the lateral flexible ends of said member.

4. An electric switch comprising complementary insulating body sections, a current conducting sleeve, said sections having opposing ribs provided with outer inclined edges, the outer corners of the sections being beveled away from the ribs, a shell having an opening to receive the ribs and having a wall to engage the ribs, and means to retain the sections together.

5. An electric switclrdevice including in combination, a screw shell member having an opening closed at all sides, a pair of insulating sections having abutting meeting faces and projections with undercut outer faces adapted to engage beneath opposite edges of: the opening, and clamping means for fastening the ends of the sections opposite the screw shell to prevent lateral separation of the upper ends thereof.

6. A lamp socket assembly comprising a screw shell having an opening closed at all sides, and a pair of insulation members having abutting meeting faces and projections interlocking with the screw shell at the opening to prevent relative movement of the screw shell with reference to the said members either in the direction of its axis or radially, and a fastening for said insulated members.

7. A lamp socket assembly comprising a screw shell having an opening closed at all sides, and a pair of insulation members having abutting meeting faces and projections interlocking with the screw shell at the opening to prevent relative movement of the screw shell with reference to the said members either in the direction of its axis or radially, and a resilient clip engaging with the said members at opposite sides of their meeting faces.

8. An electric switch comprising an insulating body including two separable sections, one of said sections'having a transverse bore extending entirely through the same and provided with an angular seat at the outer end, and a shaft having a flattened outer end adapted to fit in said seat to limit both the inward movement of the shaft and its rotation in the bore, contacts on said section having the bore, movable contacts mounted on the shaft and cooperating with said first named contacts, actuating means for the movable contacts, and a spring on said shaft cooperating with said movable contacts and said actuating means to tension the same and to also exert a pull on the shaft to maintain it in operative position.

9. An electric switch including in combination, insulating switch blocks one of which has a transverse bore communicating with an angular seat opening at the outer side of the block, a shaft having a cross key at one end adapted to fit in said seat, spring anchoring means at the other end of the shaft, fixed and movable switch contacts, an actuator for said movable contacts, a spring on the shaft and having one end engaged With said spring anchoring means and the other end engaged with the actuator, and said spring permitting the shaft to be moved longitudinally to remove the cross key outwardly from the seat and then rotated to alter the tension on the spring.

Signed at New York city, county and State of New York, this 14th day of May, 1925.

CHAS. S. CROSS. CHAS. A. SMITH. 

